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Developing Thinking In L2 Speaking: Evidence From Spatial-Temporal System In Chinese And English Learners, Pei-Ni Causarano
Developing Thinking In L2 Speaking: Evidence From Spatial-Temporal System In Chinese And English Learners, Pei-Ni Causarano
Linguistics ETDs
Spatial and temporal expressions cross-linguistically are metaphorical can present a difficult challenge during second language acquisition. This dissertation expands on Slobins (1996) study of 'first-language thinking in second-language speaking,' and applies linguistic relativity theory and Vygotsky's theory on thought and language to investigate how L1 thinking influences L2 speaking in Chinese native speakers learning English and English native speakers learning Chinese. It examines (a) habitual language use of spatial and temporal referents cross-linguistically and (b) dynamic changes of spatial and spatial-temporal expressions in L2 learners across proficiency levels. Some 41 CLLs and ELLs at four proficiency levels participated in this …
Analyzing Navajo Discourse: Investigating Form And Function Of Intonational Units In Referential Discourse, Michele Kiser
Analyzing Navajo Discourse: Investigating Form And Function Of Intonational Units In Referential Discourse, Michele Kiser
Linguistics ETDs
Extensive research has been conducted on the Navajo verb complex (prefix morphology) and specific constructions (i.e. relative clause structure, subject-object-inversion), but to date the proposed establishment of a method to analyze actual discourse from a functional or usage based approach has not occurred. The goal of this study is twofold. The first is to establish a method to analyze spoken Navajo using the Intonation Units (IU) as a measure as it occurs in natural, uninterrupted speech, according to the parameters outlined by Chafe (1994), and show the influence of the morphological complexity of Navajo on the size of the IU. …
"Hey, Y'Guys!": A Diachronic Usage-Based Approach To Changes In American English Address, Ben Sienicki
"Hey, Y'Guys!": A Diachronic Usage-Based Approach To Changes In American English Address, Ben Sienicki
Linguistics ETDs
This dissertation adopts a functional, usage-based perspective on language to highlight key changes in American English address over the past century, especially the development of 'you guys' and its expansion across second-person plural contexts. Based on data from the Corpus of Historical American English and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (among other corpora), the study tracks the increasing usage, gradual restructuring, semantic generalization, and shifting registers of 'you guys', including the interactions of those changes as the form has grammaticalized. This work offers an explanation, therefore, as to why 'you guys' has been uniquely reshaped into a pronominal unit …